Part 3:

"We're gonna try asking for help from another friend of mine," Naruto announced as soon as they stopped to camp for the night. They'd had to walk all the way out of the desert before they could stop and it was already dark. Camping in the desert at night was never a good idea, especially when you weren't prepared for it.

All three of them, Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke were shaken by what had happened with Gaara. Naruto and Sakura because they felt the first taste of banishment and ostracism from their friends, and Sasuke because of that feeling of guilt that, once noticed, couldn't be ignored.

Yet, as they stood in the moonlight in a small outcropping of trees on the edge of the great sandy expanse of land, Sasuke felt a different feeling start to bubble up inside him. He couldn't quite place it, but when he found himself looking at Sakura and Naruto he couldn't help but think of the past. Something about their presence made Sasuke want to act like he used to act.

"Hn," he snorted, and rolled his eyes. "Because that worked so well the first time."

Naruto didn't give any hint that he'd even heard him. Sasuke narrowed his eyes and glared. He didn't appreciate being ignored.

"We're going to Lightning to see if Killer Bee will take us in. Even if his brother is Raikage, he doesn't have any political obligations that would stop him from helping us. I think he might..."

Naruto then frowned as he seemed to remember something. Sasuke smirked.

"Oh, did you just remember that I almost killed that guy once? I'm not sure if he'll be too welcoming if you show up with me by your side."

Again, Naruto all but ignored him. Instead of turning to him, Naruto saw that Sakura had just started to cry again and ran to her side. Sasuke was beginning to wonder when the stupid girl was going to run out of water in her body.

"Lightning?" Sakura muttered, looking at Naruto with wide eyes. "We're going all the way to Lightning? But that's so- so far from..."

Her lower lip trembled and Naruto put his arm around her. All of the sudden, Sasuke felt very lonely. The feeling of nostalgia from a few minutes before was gone because as he saw them comforting each other he realized that he wasn't really a part of "them" anymore. Though he might be traveling with them, he had been separate from them for too long. A deep growl grew in his chest until until he turned on Sakura and became a more familiar, cruel Sasuke as he yelled,

"Far from where, Sakura? Far from your precious Leaf? Go home then if you can't handle it out here!"

"Sasuke," Naruto said firmly. "Don't yell at her."

Something warm spread through Sasuke's body when Naruto spoke him name. It was the first time he'd said it to his face since... he couldn't even remember when. Then, Sasuke noticed that Naruto still hadn't caught his eye. With anger he hadn't felt in what seemed like years, Sasuke bared his teeth and quickly replied to Naruto in a voice that echoed off the darkness that surrounded them.

"Stop acting like the goddam leader, Naruto! You don't know what the fuck you're doing! You're just as stupid and pointless as you've always been, aren't you? You're just dragging Sakura along on this useless mission. You already regret saving me, I can see it on your idiot face. Well... Say something! Defend yourself if you-"

"Sasuke, stop! Please stop!" Sakura cried, throwing her hands out between him and Naruto. The whole scene was like a long forgotten dream, dejá vu. He had a strong feeling as though all three of them were just children, barely able to take care of themselves.

Sasuke was breathing heavily and could feel a painful stitch in his side where he knew a particularly nasty broken rib hadn't been completely healed yet. But he didn't feel bad. Because Naruto was finally looking at him. Something in his eyes made Sasuke think that the feeling of deja vu had been shared by all three of them in that moment when Sakura put herself between them.

Then, Naruto smiled sadly and shook his head, looking suddenly like the farthest thing from a child.

"You still don't get it, do you, Sasuke?"

Sasuke felt lost. He didn't want this Naruto, not this Naruto who was calm and sure about everything he said and did. Sasuke had once heard that your true character can only be measured by how you act under stress. If that was true then Naruto had double, maybe triple the character he had. He thought back to how he had acted under stress and pictured himself sacrificing Karin without blinking and... taking Itachi's eyes. His hand drifted up and covered both his eyes gently. He didn't regret it but he had stopped using the power they had given him when Madara fell. It felt... wrong.

In that moment Sasuke felt like a weight was taken off his shoulders. He moved his hand away from his face in time to see Naruto still staring at him with those cool blue eyes and Sasuke stared back, and felt like he never wanted to stop staring at Naruto. There seemed to be light coming from him and the more he stared, the brighter Naruto became.

Naruto exhaled deeply and turned to Sakura.

"Sakura-chan, I'm sorry but please set up camp while I find a town to buy a map from. We can camp here for the night and head to Lightning in the morning. It'll be okay, Sakura. I promise."

With a reticent sideways glance at Sasuke, Naruto sprung back with carefully trained ease and disappeared into the darkness beyond their camp. Sasuke felt a little bit like laughing. That last glance hadn't been calm and sure at all. It was much more like old Naruto, and Sasuke was relieved to see that Naruto was still there somewhere. The dobe Naruto he remembered.

But at the same time, the old Naruto never would have come up with a diffuser for this situation that easily. In fact, the old Naruto couldn't have done anything this Naruto was doing. The old Naruto wasn't a leader, this one was.

He noticed Sakura carefully approach him with her hand held out, staring at his chest. He nodded and removed one side of his shirt so she could begin a lackluster healing session on the rib her medic trained eyes must have noticed was bothering him. He was still caught up thinking about Naruto, but after a few minutes of silence opened his mouth to say something, then hesitated. Sakura noticed this and glanced at him. He looked back at her and with a clipped sigh, asked,

"What... happened to him?"

He grazed his eyes over in the direction Naruto had just left from. Sakura seemed to understand the question even if it wasn't completely clear. She shrugged and replied coolly,

"He's changed." She nodded towards him. "You've changed. I've changed. We've all changed."

"I never thought he could act like that," Sasuke mused thoughtfully. "Like a leader. Maybe he really could be Hokage."

"Not now!" She spat, suddenly glaring at him. "Not since he's going on this stupid mission for you! He'll never be Hokage now and it's- it's all your fault!"

"Yeah? Well why don't you try to talk him out of it then?" The guilt in the back of his mind grew with every word she spoke and he was starting to think he liked her about as much as she liked him.

"You know that won't work, and it's not like I haven't tried! Why did you have to come close to the Leaf in the first place? None of this would have happened if you just stayed away!"

"If you hate me so much," he hissed venomously, "why aren't you running on home to the Leaf?"

He had expected her to cower from his cruel remark but she just glared at him as the glow from her hands reflected in her eyes.

"And leave him alone with you?" She replied darkly. "Not a chance."


Sasuke had noticed it before, but now it bothered him, and he didn't know why.

It was obviously when Naruto returned with a map and a cold meal for the three of them. Both he and Sakura had heard someone coming in their direction and tensed, watching the darkness carefully. Sasuke had exhaled when Naruto leapt into the campsite they had set up while he'd been gone. It was just a fire, a tarp, and three bed rolls, but it was better than nothing. Sakura had run forward to take the food from his hands and let him sit down by the fire.

He smiled at her as he handed over the small portions of food he'd bought and she set them beside the fire to warm. Sasuke watched as he opened the large map he'd also bought from a nearby village and tried to find where they were by the light of the fire. Even though it was late he didn't seem to be tired, and when the food was warm, he ate like he was starving.

"We're going to have to go through Fire to get to Lightning, which could be problematic if we're spotted, but it's the fastest way," Naruto said after he finished his small meal and figured out approximately where they were on the map. He was doing that thing again, where he spoke aloud and broadly so as not to directly speak to Sasuke, but Sasuke felt included at the same time.

Sakura put down the water she'd been drinking and moved to sit next to Naruto to look at the map as well. He pointed to where they were in relation to the town he had just visited, then drew a line to Lightning and went on.

"Killer Bee once told me that he doesn't like to stay in Cloud too much, and he has a house near the eastern shore. It will take us at least a week to make it there, if we go straight through. I think Land of Fire is going to be the hardest country to get through but if we stay out of major towns it should be fine. I still don't know if they're gonna be out looking for us or not. The way Shikamaru acted made it seem like..."

He dropped her gaze and stared into the fire. Sakura looked at Naruto sadly and that was when Sasuke really noticed it.

He frowned. That look in her eyes whenever she looked at Naruto. No wonder it was so familiar. It was the exact same look she used to give him, every moment of every day. After their first real mission in the Land Of Waves she had calmed down a little and he could stand her, he even liked her as a teammate. When the three of them started the Chunin exams he had been happy with both of his teammates, and their captain. Sure, Sakura, Naruto, and Kakashi all had their flaws, but he'd grown to be protective of them, and his rivalry with Naruto was always interesting.

It wasn't a lie that he'd always liked Naruto more than Sakura. At least he was useful, and he never looked at him like Sakura looked at him, like she was looking at Naruto now.

Sasuke didn't know why, but it bothered him when she put her arms around Naruto to cheer him up. It bothered him to think that she probably knew a whole lot more about Naruto than he did, and that she had spent all these years right beside him when he had been away. And how, when she yawned, Naruto smiled at her and announced that they should all go to bed if they wanted to get to Lightning as soon as possible.

If that wasn't bad enough, when they had all gone to sleep, Sasuke heard Sakura mutter in that pathetic girly voice of hers,

"Naruto, I'm cold..."

Sasuke found himself holding his breath as he waited for what Naruto would do. There was a shuffling and Sasuke had to resist turning around to see if his assumption was right, but then he heard Naruto say sleepily,

"Here, trade places with me so you'll be closer to the fire."

Sasuke smirked to himself as he was sure this hadn't been the solution Sakura had been trying to get to. Also, he noticed that now Naruto was laying beside him and the cold night felt warmer somehow as he finally drifted off to sleep.


Sasuke Uchiha is a particular type of person. That can be clearly identified by studying the themes of his life and the actions and decisions he's made throughout that life. Everyone has a certain personality type, but Sasuke's is just a little bit easier to figure out than most other people's are.

Sasuke Uchiha is an obsessor.

He finds one single solitary thing on which to focus and exhausts nearly all his energy on that thing. When he was a child that thing was impressing his father. After the massacre, that obsession became a negative impact on Sasuke Uchiha's personality. His new obsession was revenge, and that one thought carried him through almost all the years of his life.

Revenge was the driving force, the reason behind his decisions, and he became familiar with the feeling. Revenge was something of a comfort to him. The moment he got his revenge on Itachi, Sasuke Uchiha actually felt lost. That's why, when a new opportunity arrived before him to continue on the path of revenge that he was so familiar with, he took it.

But revenge isn't healthy. Obsession, though it may seem strange, can be healthy, if used correctly. After obsessing over revenge for so long, Sasuke became overwhelmed by it, and it consumed him, until he was rid completely of that driving force, the desire for revenge. When that was gone he was relieved, somewhere deep down inside, but mostly he was scared and lost again. Lost for the second time in his life.

Sasuke Uchiha was an obsessor with no obsession, and so he was barely alive, barely himself. Sasuke Uchiha needed a new obsession, and Sasuke Uchiha found one.

Naruto Uzumaki was Sasuke Uchiha's new obsession.


Sasuke couldn't take his eyes off him. From the moment they woke up, Sasuke looked around and found Naruto's bright orange jacket and pants. When they began to walk, Sasuke still being a bit too wounded to run, he kept his eyes trained carefully on the back of Naruto's head. The way his hair moved as he walked, which direction it curled from his scalp, how much it had grown and how far it went down his neck. The way he walked, still a bit clumsily, like he remembered, but with a confidence and pride that he didn't remember.

Maybe he was trying to combat all the looks Sakura was giving Naruto. Maybe he just had nothing else to look at. But maybe he did it because he was determined to figure Naruto out. To understand what the reason was behind Naruto's complete dedication to keeping him alive.

Sasuke Uchiha was obsessed with Naruto.

Of course he himself didn't notice it. Neither Sakura nor Naruto noticed it either, they were too busy ignoring him. Sasuke paid special attention to that too. To the way Naruto would turn his head so he could only see Sasuke out of the corner of his eye to make sure he was still there. It wasn't exactly ignoring, just selective focussing.

They made it to the border of the Land of Fire on the first night and stopped there to camp, planning on traveling quickly through Fire the next day or two and making it out without incident.

The majority of Sasuke's wounds were healed, especially those on the lower half of his body. Sakura had spent extra time healing his legs to make sure he would be able to move as fast as possible and defend himself if they got into trouble. Sasuke heard her whispering cautiously to Naruto after she finished healing him that night,

"Naruto, what if he... what if he tries to run away?"

Sasuke waited with bated breath for Naruto's reply.

"He won't." Naruto had said simply, but he didn't sound 100% confident.

Sasuke was confident though. He wouldn't try to leave, at least not until he understood Naruto, and he was beginning to think they would need to be alone before that was ever going to happen. That made him even more annoyed that Sakura had come along when Naruto had declared he would leave with Sasuke and abandon the village. Sasuke thought about what Sakura had said to him the night before.

"And leave him alone with you? Not a chance."

He could understand her worry. He had said many times that he would kill Naruto without blinking, and when he had said it, he didn't think it was a lie. Looking back he knew that it was.

He might have subconsciously been obsessed with Naruto for quite a long time. That night as they went to sleep just on the outside of Land of Fire territory, Sasuke had a dream of a memory from not so long ago.

It was when he was traveling as Akatsuki with Suigetsu, Karin, and Juugo. He didn't remember what they were doing but Suigetsu had said something stupid and for a fraction of a second he'd almost called out Naruto's name and the word "dobe." That hadn't been the only time Suigetsu had reminded him of Naruto either, and there were a few times Karin's and Suigetsu's fighting had made him feel like he was watching the old Naruto and Sakura, but they were fleeting moments before he remembered that he was obsessed only with revenge, and didn't have energy to think about silly things from his past.

But Naruto was always there, always on the edge of his mind. If he said he never once thought about Naruto while he was living with Orochimaru he would be lying through his teeth. He went over their last battle at The Valley of the End hundreds of times, analyzing practically every move and attack of both his and Naruto's. It calmed him down and energized him at the same time.


They started into Land of Fire timidly, as if expecting five anbu to come popping out of the shadows and attack without warning. They stayed on the outskirts of towns and made sure they had a wide berth around the Leaf so not to tempt an attack. The weather was gloomy the first day and it slowed them own along with dampening their spirits. Sasuke thought they actually went the entire day without saying a word and when it became too dark for them to keep going, Naruto scouted a small cave that they could escape the coming rain for the night.

Barely had Sakura began cooking dinner did the prediction of rain come true. Sasuke watched as Naruto stared dreamily off into the downpour. He knew Naruto didn't like rain. That tan skin and bleach blond hair was proof.

All of the sudden, as Sasuke watched, Naruto's expression became horribly sad. Sasuke half expected him to start crying right then and there, but then it passed as suddenly as it had come, Naruto's face returning to a blank gaze at the dark sky outside. Sasuke also noticed that his fingers dug into his palms momentarily before they too relaxed and became still. It was strange and Sasuke couldn't make sense of it.

There was obviously something Naruto was holding in. Sasuke had never known Naruto to be the kind who holds in the things he feels. That was who he was supposed to be, not Naruto. Sasuke wondered why he didn't just tell Sakura what was bothering him, but then he realized that what he really wanted was for Naruto tell him what was bothering him.

As he stared at Naruto's back he felt a sudden urge to go closer to him. He was really beginning to hate being avoided and ignored. He wanted to be closer to Naruto. He wanted to know more about him. He wanted to know everything about him. How else would he ever figure Naruto out?

Frowning, and seeming just as unhappy as Naruto was in the moody weather, Sasuke turned away to stare at the blank cave wall instead of torturing himself staring at that orange back he'd become so familiar with over just a few short days.

Naruto woke both Sakura and Sasuke up before dawn even broke the next morning. He looked as though he hadn't slept and he kept staring at the entrance of the cave anxiously.

"We need to get out of the Land of Fire. I thought I sensed someone outside all last night... but maybe it was just my imagination. Let's get moving."

Both Sakura and Sasuke nodded and quickly gathered their sleeping rolls on their backs and followed Naruto out of the cave as he rolled up the map and stowed it inside his jacket. Luckily, the weather was much nicer than it had been the day before and it made them move quicker through the trees. Naruto told them they wouldn't stop until they were out of Fire, just to be safe, but halfway through the day that plan had to be changed.

"Naruto!" Sakura said, panic clear in her voice.

"I know!" He replied, clenching his fists. "Someone's following us."

Sasuke had felt it too and was waiting to see what Naruto would do. He silently activated his sharingan just in case, moving a bit faster to keep up with Naruto and Sakura.

"What do we do, Naruto?" Sakura asked as she pulled out a pair of gloves and slipped them on her hands. Seemed like she was getting herself prepared for a fight too.

"Dammit!" Naruto cursed and looked back. "We'll just have to face them and see what happens."

He came to a halt on a thick branch as they had been running atop the trees in the forrest. Sasuke and Sakura stopped right beside him and the three of them waited silently until they could hear the casual leaps of a trained shinobi coming ever closer. All of the sudden two figures landed on a branch about 10 feet away from where Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura were standing in cautious defensive positions.

Light shining through the trees reflected off his sideways Leaf Village forehead protector as Hatake Kakashi crouched low on the branch, his one visible eye curved in a friendly smile. Pakkun the ninja dog landed beside him a second later.

"Yo!" he said cheerfully. "Sorry I'm late!"


Kakashi-sensei you are very quality. If you weren't late we would have thought something was a bit off with this whole situation.

Sorry for cliffhanger (kinda). And I'm sorry this is being such a slow story, but I promise it will be good when it finally gets going!

KeikoPanda102